Dec. iy 1886,] 



tHE TROPICAL AGKiCULTURIST, 



425 



* 



To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer." 



ANTS ON CROTONS. 



Tke Castle, Slave Island, 12th Nov. 1886. 



De.\.e Sir, — May I so far trespass on your valuabi* 

 time as to ask you how I can prevent ants attack- 

 ing crotons. A kind of mould or bligkt appears and 

 I notice whenever this is so, the ants are busy. I 

 have lost several crotons from this cause and I would 

 not have troubled, but that most of these shrubs are 

 now attacked by this pest— Yours faithfully, 



BARLOW A. WOORE. 



[We suspect that the crotons are infested with 

 msaly bug, white scale, or some form of aphis. Ants 

 are well-known destroyers of Aphis and this will 

 account for their presence. A good remedy is to 

 paint the stems thoroughly with the following mixture: — 

 ^ lb. of soft s«ap, ^ lb. of fluur of sulphur, ^ lb. of 

 tobacco, and a wine-glass of spirit of turpentine. Mix 

 the sulphur, turpentine and .<^oai) into a paste with 

 warm water, boil the tobacco for an hour in a covered 

 saacepan in some more water, strain it, mix it with 

 the soapy mixture and then add enough water to 

 make one gallon.— Ed.] 



TEA PLUCKING: HEAVY AND FINE; AND 



COST OF CULTIVATION: A WOED OF 



WARNING. 



Deak Sir,— Referring to " C. S." 's correspond- 

 ence in your paper of 15th inst. re Tea Manu- 

 facture and change of system, I will, with your 

 permission, make a few remarks. I think " C. S." 

 is. a little out when he says " that the cost of 

 plucking tea per acre is rateably the same whether 

 the yield is large or small." And further out when 

 he remarks that " it might be urged that the cost 

 of plucking '200 lb. per acre will be greater than 

 that of 400 lb. ; if this is so, the 400 lb. may be 

 plucked and the leaf passed through a green leaf 

 sifter r.nd the coarse leaf put in the manure pit." 

 No one ever said that the cost per acre for pluck- 

 ing 200 lb. would be greater than that of 400 lb. What 

 is said and known to every practical man is that 

 a small yield will cost more per lb. to pluck than 

 a large yield per lb. The rates would be for pluck- 

 ing 400 lb. per acre 9 cents per lb. 

 200 „ 16 



So if my figures for plucking are correct and in 

 practice, I fancy I am nearer to it than " C, S." 

 His 200 lb. per acre (allowing all his other figures 

 to be correct) will cost him in Colombo cents 48-50 

 per lb. " C. S's." system is not fine plucking at all. 

 It only means the rejection of souchong leaf, either 

 by leaving it on the bushes and only taking the 

 bud and one leaf or plucking it all and, as he says, 

 " pass the leaf through a green leaf sifter and put 

 the coarse leaf in the manure pit," As I understand 

 fine plucking, it is to take the bud and one leaf 

 before a souchong leaf has time to form on the shoot. 



Although I have not, like " C. S." sunk my bottom 

 dollar in tea, I am deeply interested in it and I 

 would be the last to run it down. Yet I cannot 

 but think that inflated and inaccurate writing will 

 have much of the over-production to answer for, 

 and I think it is to be regretted, that some of the 

 "authorities" have not based their estimates on 

 a more moderate yield than 400 lb. per acre. Un- 

 less we are to assume that the capital invested in 

 planting and in the erection of the pilatial fact- 

 ories recommended in the " Manual," as sunk 

 irretrievably, I think it but right that interest on 

 this capital should be included in espenditure. If 

 one of our " authorities " would frame an estimate 



on a more probable yield than iO^ lb. per acre, say 

 250 lb., adding interest on capital, then show what 

 it would cost f o.b., it would be more to the pur- 

 pose, though I fear it would be too late to do good, as 

 the mischief is already done.— Yours faithfully. 



PLANTER. 



A NEW COFFEE TREE. 



24th Nov. 1880, 

 Dear Me. Editor,— I enclose an amusing cutting 

 from Public Opinion : — 



"A New Coi-fee-tree.- The Qiornalc (V Agricol- 

 tura 0. Commercio for August reports the discovery 

 in West Africa of a new variety of coffee-plant, 

 whose berry appears greatly to resemble that of 

 Arabia in appearance and flavour. It grows, how- 

 ever, not on a shrub but on a tree nearly 7 ft. 

 high, which develops rapidly and yields an abundant 

 crop. Arrangements are already being made for 

 introducing its cultivation in favourable localities." 

 The Italian paper seems to have discovered a 

 very promising mare\ nest, seeing that the claim 

 of this coffee plant to be a new variety, is based 

 on the astonisliing fact that it grows on a tree 

 nearly 7 ft. hiijli ; our own old variety would grow 

 double that height if permitted. If you think it 

 worth while, you might copy "the " para " in the 

 Observer for the edification of those who, like my- 

 self, once cultivated the noble shrub. 



Ex K. C. B., NOW K. T. 



ENEMY OP COCONUT PALM. 



Pallai, 29th October 1886. 



Dear Sir,— Will your entomological referee kindly 

 afford me some information regarding the beetle I 

 herewith send you. What name does it go by, and 

 what is its appearance in the larva state ? P'rom 

 interested motives I should also like to know what 

 it generally feeds on I As far as my experience goes, 

 it does not appear to be very common to this part 

 of the country, and, until very recently, I was under 

 the impression it was the black coconut-beetle, or 

 Kuriiminiija of the Sinhalese. 



Is it at all destructive te coconuts, and if so, in 

 what way ? 



I captured the present specimen on the ground, 

 as he was taking a quiet evening stroll, having 

 probably emerged from some hole or heap of rubbish 

 near by. His appearance is certainly formidable, 

 and I should say he was capable of doing a con- 

 siderable amount of mischief with the pair of 

 forceps or shears with which he is provided ; but 

 I trust they are not quite so powerful as to enable 

 him to effect his escape from the parcel beiore 

 it reaches you. — Yours faithfully, 



" COCONUT PLANTER." 



[Our referee has been trying to find out the 

 name of the beetle, but has nof been successful, 

 It belongs to the family PrionlcUc, genus Priunits, 

 and the larva which is large, fleshy and white, 

 feeds on the decaying wood of 

 beetle usually conceals itself in 

 roams about after dark. The 

 coiTesj)ondent, is a male ; the 

 ably much smaller mandibles. The family 

 comprises some of the largest known beetles. — • 

 If our correspondent could tend some more speci« 

 mens of the beetle, it would be well. — Ed.] 



DOES TEA IMPROVE OR DETERIORATE 

 BY KEEPING. 

 Deai Sir,— =There is a question on the subject of 

 tea, and one about which opinions vary so much 

 that no definite conclusion can be arrived at by the 

 UQiuitiatecl, and I kuo>y no one more able to ventilato 



fallen trees. The 



the daytime and 



one sent by our 



female has prob- 



